Sanctuary
by Artemis Noir
Summary: The sequel to Paradise.  Lightning just can't let herself be happy.  Vanille makes her an offer she can't refuse.  Rated M
1. Chapter 1

Final Fantasy belongs to SquareEnix, not me.

This is the direct sequel to Paradise. I recommend reading that one first, because there are references in it that won't make sense if you haven't. It's short and lemony.

Sanctuary

Chapter One

"You're a cold-hearted bitch, Farron," Fang spat at me the morning before we arrived in Oerba. We had camped at the foot of Taijin's Tower the previous evening, or the rest of the party had at least. I had opted to scout alone. I was lightly sleeping atop the ravine overlooking the camp when I was awoken by the angry warrior. I stayed seated with my back against the rock, not intimidated by her crossed arms as she stood above me.

"What's your problem?" I sighed, but I had an idea about why she was upset. I wasn't surprised she knew about what happened two nights earlier.

"What's my problem? Someone I care for got used by someone I used to respect. Is this what soldiers do to girls on your planet, shag 'em then toss them to the side?"

I cringed internally at her accusation.

"I don't know what you're talking about? I didn't realize that because we had sex we were suddenly in love. Is that how things work on Pulse?

"Gran Pulse!" Fang corrected, even more pissed off than ever. "I thought you were an honourable person; I never would have told Vanille how to get to the beacon if I had thought you would treat her this way!"

I stood up and tried to stare her down. Now I was pissed off.

"Look Fang! I never made any promises to Vanille, and as I recall she didn't ask for any! Did either of you think that I was going to further compromise the mission or the lives of our group to make it happen again?"

"Don't act like you're ignoring her for the good of everybody else!" Fang yelled practically nose to nose with me. "If you don't care for her, tell her so she can stop feeling like she has a chance with you."

"!..." I didn't know how to respond. As angry as I was with Fang for goading me into a fight, what she was saying was correct. Not that I wanted her to know I thought that. I turned my back to her and crossed my arms. "I'll talk to her, but you leave this between her and I—"

"DIE!" The voice of Snow screamed in the distance close to the tower entrance. Our team mates had started without us and began our day of fighting. It's not that Taijin's Tower was particularly difficult to get through; it was just tedious to have to rearrange the seven tiers to get to the top. There was no time in between those hours to talk to Vanille but several times we were able to make eye contact. If she was upset with me, it was hard to tell because she seemed just as cheerful as ever.

Once we reached the top of the tower, Fang suggested we split up to complete two objectives. One party would fight the Fal'Cie, Dahaka while the other completed the task of the Cieth Stone on the main floor. She came up with some reason why it had to be the three women who took the secondary task to which everybody else agreed to; all I heard was "Let's do a mission that does not get us any closer to saving Serah and also gets you alone with Vanille for a while."

Yippee.

As we boarded the elevator, Fang took a seat at the far side, leaving me to control the machine. The ride itself would take several minutes playing a twinkling song meant to lure the monster out of hiding. Vanille said something quietly to Fang as the ride began, but soon was sitting next to me. Her face was serious.

"Fang talked with you this morning," she began with a sheepish tone in her voice. "I just wanted you to know I didn't put her up to it."

I looked over to Fang who was staring out the second exit pretending to ignore us. I kept my voice low.

"She was only looking out for you. She didn't say anything that wasn't true."

Vanille's eyes became wide as if her mind was saying 'what could she have said?' instead, all that nervously came out was "Oh?"

I couldn't help but smirk as I responded, "she only suggested that I'm not handling things with you well, and that perhaps I should be upfront with my intentions."

Her eyes fell low and she looked away.

"You don't have to say anything," she said shyly. "I understand how things are. I know Serah is your priority, but also that you have to think about the safety of our whole group. You shouldn't have to worry about…"

Her voice trailed away and though she didn't finish her sentence and as much of an emotional dummy I am, even I could hear the hurt. With my free arm, the other of course still holding the elevator lever I brought her to me and held her.

"I'm sorry Vanille," I said sincerely. "I care for you, I do. When this is over, maybe we could talk about things and decide what they mean together."

Her face was in the crook of my neck with her arms about my waist. I suddenly felt very protective of her, and more ashamed than ever of my previous day's behaviour.

When we returned to camp after our eventful night together, I tried to behave as if nothing happened. Because of what I had seen as the sun rose, I was able to pretend that the night was a normal evening of scouting and sleeping apart from the group. If Vanille had thought to take a moment to confess to the gang what had actually happened, she was forced to conform to my lie since I was the first to discuss the night.

I noticed right away she returned to calling me Lightning, which suited me fine, but during the day she made several attempts at flirts and stealing affection, all of which I rebuffed. I even stopped making eye contact to further discourage her; perhaps also to discourage myself from weakening my stance.

As I held her, I couldn't understand how she could be so forgiving of me; but as her breath travelled up my neck, my gentle feelings became anxious.

"Oerba," she whispered into my ear. "It will be our safe place. Be with me tonight."

The rational part of me wanted to tell her to wait and see, because how could she know that was true when all other villages we'd gone through were barren and dangerous.

The other part of me, that part that had tried not to acknowledge the eyes she could feel burning into her as they rode chocobos the previous day. This part suffered further when as revenge for ignoring her, had to watch as the girl went ahead of her so she'd have to get a good look at her perfect backside bouncing in a suggestive rhythm. The part couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to try to have sex atop a giant moving bird. This part of me uttered "uh-huh" as her hand cupped my breast before I had a chance to remind myself about the dangers of emotional entanglements in a time of war.

It was then I remembered Fang was only ten feet away and probably heard everything, but briefly, I didn't care. I brushed my lips down her neck and felt her pulse quicken as her breath caught in her throat. I left a faint kiss on her shoulder, tempted to find her lips but leaving it at that when I realized that starting something now would make it hard to stop. Instead I warmly met her eyes which were half-closed with parted lips and I knew then that her feeling was mutual. The final notes of the song the elevator played thankfully, and I hoped then that the fight would be easy so that we could quickly finish the final leg of our journey tonight.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The winged piece of shit we had to fight (whose name I forget since things on Gran Pulse tend to have terrible names), was a real bastard.

Fang was the one who got to do most of the real fighting with Vanille and I having to concentrate our abilities on defenses and healing. It's not that it was physically strong in particular, but its strategy was to lay a dozen curses on us along with a strong poison before flying far enough away until it could be strong enough to do it again.

It was taking a long time, and as strong as Fang was, I was becoming angry that she hadn't killed it already. Irrationally, I was blaming her for keeping us away from Oerba and I switched strategies so that I was attacking as well. Because of this, Vanille was forced to oversee all of the healing alone.

"Lightning, let me draw its attacks!" Fang yelled after a nasty string of ailments left us sick and exhausted. I wanted to vomit, but I was not ready to slow down.

"No, just hurry up and kill this fucker!" I screamed. It was almost dead. You can tell these things because their behaviours become more desperate.

Fang had managed to climb onto its back and was bashing its skull as I shot at its chest. In retaliation, it thrust itself backwards against the ceiling, and then spun around so that the fragments of sharp metal it had loosened would whip down upon us on the floor.

Vanille, who had been neglecting to heal herself and was affected by the slow curse, was struck.

"Aahh!" she screamed as the slash down her arm began to bleed profusely which could barely be heard by the sudden cracking sound.

Fang and I both saw it coming, the massive splinter the monsters wing had just clipped.

"Vanille MOVE!" Fang screamed, too far away to do anything as I raced towards the stumbling girl. My hands had barely touched her when time suddenly began to slow down.

I didn't feel it enter my back; but a feeling of horror did strike me as I saw it emerge from my chest and somehow quickly realizing that it could pierce the both of us if she didn't fall back far enough. As fortune would have it, my body was enough to halt its progress; its tip did not extend past the bent knee I landed on. Vanille had blood on her face where she lay on the ground. Mine.

I couldn't hear her scream, or whatever sound was coming out of her wide open mouth as her eyes burst wide filled with terror. I don't remember my last thoughts before I fell unconscious, but I do recall a feeling. Anger: Anger for all the things I had lost, my family, my home, my sister; also for lost opportunities. If I died, whatever met me on the other side was in for a world of hurt.

Then I blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks 0erbaDiaVanille for editing this chapter.

I don't own anything having to do with Final Fantasy 13, but it sure is fun to write about :D

Chapter Two

There are no stories in the skies of Cocoon.

When night fell, shimmering beads of light emerged above us. This was an illusion the Fal'Cie created, one of many that nobody ever speculates the purpose of. Perhaps it was to emulate those which Vanille called stars, that to which she felt compelled to pay homage to midway through our night at the beacon.

"Where are you going?" I asked the gloriously nude younger woman, who only a moment earlier was lying on my chest.

"I'll be back in a moment." She grinned before disappearing between the folds of flower petals.

The flower trembled in the direction of her movements as she followed its circumference. She was muttering to herself.

"The two travellers…the river west where we met…the goddess at dusk…there."

Then she was quiet. I got up to see what she was doing and found her making that Oerban symbol she made with her hands, pointing them towards a dense group of stars before us.

"Are you alright?" I asked, placing my hand on her waist.

She kept her head bowed a moment longer, before she looked to me and nodded.

"Night has always been my favourite time. My mother used to have stories for every constellation in the sky. Look straight up; those are the two travellers."

I did. Amongst the density of stars I could see two bright blue ones, so close together one could barely tell that they were two.

"On a cloudless night, the two travellers can guide you to different places. If they take the road north, they face the stone giant. When they defeated it, it became the highest mountain on Gran Pulse. If they go east, they find an ocean where dawn revealed the birth of the world."

"And we're facing west, I see." I added. I surmised that the trail of stars leading west led to something else.

"Yes…" She looked away from me, her voice sounded distant then. "It's a sanctuary, it's where people go to find the ones they lost."

_She's bleeding out again!_

Her lips were hot, desperate. How a solemn moment quickly became passionate, I can't recall. I touched her hand and then my head was in her bosom, her chest was heaving and her heartbeat was impossibly fast – she was sobbing.

_Sssshhhh. Lightning, you have to be quiet; we're trying to get you home as fast as we can!_

How were we able to have sex when the night sounds were so vicious? Snarls and clashing steel.

"Eat this!" Fang yelled out. How did we ever get together when she was cheering over us?

_Sshh, sshh, sshhh... If you carefully remove a branch from the blue forest, light it up atop the beacon and the bugs will burst into the sky all at once, making it look like blue lightning. This is how hunters find one another without alerting any monsters. All creatures avoid it because lightning can't be defeated."_

I was full of feeing, but I couldn't cry. One of us had to be strong, Serah. At the funeral, she couldn't contain herself. It was her, myself and a few of our parents friends who had watched their coffins lowered into the ground. Our grandparents' had already been buried there.

The Fal'cie had let it rain that day. After the service, those people quickly dispersed back to their own lives. The wind howled and the lightning crashed. We were alone, together, until Serah left too.

Then it was just me.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

My first awareness of any sensation was pain.

My eyes burst open into darkness as my hands reached to my chest, where a dull burning throb concentrated beneath coarse bandages.

I groaned loudly and tried to sit up, but a strong hand touched my shoulder and wouldn't let me rise.

"Don't move!" Snow's voice exclaimed softly. The room was lit by a single candle stood on the stool next to the bed. I could barely make out Snow's features, but he looked concerned. "You're still a mess; we didn't have the strength to fully heal you."

"Shit!" I hissed, laying back down. "What happened, where are we?"

"Oerba, sis." He stated, carefully pouring me a cup of water. Gratefully, I allowed him to press it to my lips and swallowed.

"We weren't sure you were going to make it. We had to carry you here in a makeshift litter with this huge sliver of metal in your body." He held his hands wide apart for dramatic effect "You kept going in and out of consciousness. Every time you woke up, you'd be screaming in pain and the monsters would be attracted, so it took a while to get here. Then when I finally pulled it out…" His hand made the shape of a large 'O', perhaps denoting the size of the hole in my chest.

I raised my hand up to stop him, I didn't really want to know the details of what I looked like with my guts spilling out of my body, if that's what happened.

"Well, it's a pretty crazy story." He continued. "Maybe you should rest a bit more and then I'll tell you some more in the morning."

"No." I spoke, "I have to heal myself a bit; I don't like feeling weak as this."

I willed some power to my insides and felt quite a lot better instantly. There was still a dull ache inside me, but at least I could sit up comfortably. Snow poured me another cup of water, which I accepted.

"Where is everybody else?" I asked before taking a sip.

"Sleeping," He replied. "Hope and Vanille used a lot of energy trying to keep you alive on the way here, and then used up the rest to keep you from bleeding to death after the metal was pulled out; poor kids. Fang, Sazh, and I have been taking turns watching over you."

I sighed deeply. I suddenly felt exhausted as I realized what a burden I had been. I lay back against the pillow and realized for the first time what soft fibres it bore. This was one of the legendary pillows I had learned about that night at the beacon.

"Vanille…" I whispered without thinking, Snow heard me.

"What about her." He asked curiously.

"Nothing"

"Ummm…Sis…" Snow began, "Actually, I wanted to ask you this some other time, but it occurred to me I should ask you privately and uh…"

"What?" I exclaimed quietly. I expected he wanted some knowledge concerning Serah.

"Well, we found out that we could get you to be quiet if Vanille laid with you in the litter, and uh…"

My gut sank.

"I don't remember that." I said defensively. "What about it?"

He rubbed the back of his head. He looked embarrassed about what he was about to say, it made me want to punch him in the mouth for drawing it out.

"Okay, so Vanille couldn't exactly deny something was going on between you two, and that's great, if she's who you want. I'm sure Serah would approve."

Fuck, this was the last thing I wanted everyone to know.

"I don't…We're not…" I stammered.

"It's okay," he interrupted. "You don't have to explain things; I just wanted you to know you don't have to pretend any more that she's not there."

Ouch.

I turned my head away, ashamed that he'd realized what I'd done. I heard him stand up and walk a few steps away before stopping.

"It looks like we'll be here at least another night, try to get some rest. There's food and stuff in the dining area over there, when you're ready."

I later learned, once daylight came that 'there' meant a kitchen area with a table and some chairs in a long room lined with bunk beds. I was relieved he had gone; I needed time to brood.

Fuck.

He knew, everybody knew. I'd let desire interfere with our mission, I had exposed myself - How could the affection of one beautiful girl make me do that?

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

My skin, itching below the bandages added to my frustration. I pulled at them where I laid to free myself, but the binding was too complicated. I wondered where my clothing was since I was still in shorts, but above the waist it was only these bandages.

"Let me help you."

Her voice struck me as if I'd been hit in the chest again.

Vanille.

I saw her outline in the darkness, she was on a bed across the room from me. Conflicted, my immediate instinct was to lash out as I normally would, to tell her to leave me alone and that this was all her fault, but something inside me halted my tongue. The rage fell away as she stood up, and it was completely forgotten by the time she sat next to me on the bed. As I sat up, she placed a hand on my knee above the blanket.

"I'm sorry for waking you." I stated, imagining she had overheard my conversation with Snow.

"You must still be tired."

She nodded and grinned slightly. Her eyes were small and the flesh around them was puffy, a certain sign that the girl was still recovering from exhaustion.

"I haven't been able to stay asleep actually. I keep waking up afraid you're in trouble again."

I took her hand in mine and squeezed gently.

"I heard, you drained yourself to save me. I'm sorry you had to do that - but thank you."I said softly.

She made a happy sound in her throat before her free hand found its way to the back of my ribs.

"What are you—." I began to say, before I felt the bandages suddenly loosen around me. She showed me a small metal clip she had just removed.

"I just have to unwind this wrapping a few times, then you should be able to lift it off."

Oh.

I felt strange as I raised my arms high enough to allow her to undress me, especially since in different circumstances she had already done this before. Part of me was telling myself that this was weak. All I needed to do was hit myself with a bit more power, then I'd be back in control and marching us back into battle by morning. Unfortunately, I could feel I didn't have much left in me.

Vanille was sporting bandages around her upper right arm. It was the wound from our last fight.

"Your arm," I noted, my hand was close enough to touch her bandaged area. "I remember when you got this. Do you want me to heal it for you?"

"No, it's not that bad." She replied as she continued to unwind me. "It just needed a few stitches. At least I can have a great battle scar to brag about."

I winced at the thought of her having to endure such a procedure, myself having received a few over the course of my life. I wasn't sure if her exhausted, yet cheerful face was just a brave front, but I was certain that it must still be hurting her, since any medicinal things in Oerba would likely have stopped being useful hundreds of years ago.

"Lightning?" She questioned as I closed my eyes, focusing my energy to my fingertips, willing her skin and any other place she may have been hurting, to heal. I heard her gasp, before quiet overcame her. It was only a few seconds until I was drained, but when I opened my eyes, I found hers closed with a peaceful expression.

She was truly beautiful. My pulse quickened, I felt as though I could just lean forward and rouse her again with the softest kiss, but before I could act, her green gaze was upon me with a wide-eyed expression.

"Oh my Goddess, Lightning! You are beautiful!" She exclaimed as she placed her hands against my arms. "You really must smile more often."

I hadn't realized what I was doing. My face felt hot with embarrassment and instantly became stone.

"Weren't you about to remove these bandages?" I said grumpily, she smirked.

"Of course."

She motioned for my arms to rise again, before she lifted the remains of the bandages over my head. After placing them on the floor, she lifted up the candle and brought it close to my bare chest. I could see a red, raised area of skin that partially broke the bottom tip of my brand. It was about a hand's width in length.

"Damn..." I muttered out loud. "I can't believe I'm alive."

Vanille's fingertips caressed lightly down the tender scar as a deep yawn fell from her mouth with her rising chest. Poor tired girl, yet eternally cheeky; her fingers trailed from my wound to follow the rise of my left breast to swirl my areola.

"Vanille," I growled lowly, receiving a cute 'Mmmh?' as a reply.

"Come here."

I pulled her on top of me and her head naturally fell to the side of mine, her hand still covering my breast. With a sleepy voice, she whispered.

"I still get to have you."

"Mm-hmm."

I kissed her forehead then closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax beneath her warmth.

"Just a short rest."


End file.
